THIS WEEKEND Business
was booming at North American multiplexes as the cartoon sequel Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa dominated the marketplace with a sensational
opening weekend to kick off the holiday movie season. Two new R-rated cuss-filled
buddy comedies also debuted with the raunchy Role
Models scoring a solid second place showing while the music-themed
Soul Men disappointed in sixth. Thanks
to two strong bows and solid holds for existing films, the overall box
office surged to the best performance in four years for the first weekend
of November.

DreamWorks Animation scored the seventh
biggest opening of all-time for an animated film with the launch of
the Madagascar sequel which pulled
in $63.1M this weekend, according to final
studio figures. The PG-rated film reunited the voice cast of Ben Stiller,
Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, and
Cedric the Entertainer and averaged a stellar $15,559 from an ultrawide
release in 4,056 locations. Distributed by Paramount, the muscular opening
marked the best debut of any film since The Dark
Knight and the top toon opener of 2008 inching past the $63.1M
of WALL•E and the $60.2M of Kung
Fu Panda, both from June.

Escape 2 Africa truly brought in
the big crowds registering the fifth largest November launch in history
trailing three Harry Potter films and
The Incredibles which opened in 2004
with $70.5M. DreamWorks had a big hit on its hands in 2005 with the first
Madagascar which bowed to $47.2M on
its way to $193.2M domestic and $531M worldwide. For the second installment,
all the major actors were signed and a new story taking place in Africa
allowed the fun to continue. Reviews were somewhat good and the family
audience looked at the film as an event.

Universal used its patented counter-programming skills to make a hit
out of its buddy comedy Role Models which
debuted in second with a better-than-expected $19.2M. The R-rated story
of two slackers ordered by a court to mentor a pair of troubled kids averaged
a strong $6,865 from 2,792 theaters and made a better connection with audiences
than other recent R-rated comedies have. Earlier this fall, My
Best Friend's Girl opened to $8.3M, Sex
Drive bowed to $3.6M, and last weekend's Zack
and Miri Make a Porno debuted to $10.1M. Starring Seann William
Scott and Paul Rudd, Role Models also
attracted fairly good reviews from critics and earned an encouraging A-
grade from CinemaScore indicating that word-of-mouth should be positive.
The audience was broad as studio research showed that 51% was under 25
and 53% was male.

Disney's two-time chart-topper High School
Musical 3 fell two notches to third place sliding 40% to $9.2M.
With $75.6M in its locker, the G-rated smash still has a shot at finishing
with $100M.

The Angelina Jolie drama Changeling
held up very well in its second weekend of wide release slipping only 22%
to $7.3M without any major addition of screens. Clint Eastwood's latest
directorial effort enjoyed the top ten's smallest decline and raised its
total to $20.6M. The Universal release could be headed for a $45M total.
The studio also crossed the $1 billion mark in year-to-date domestic box
office thanks to its pair of hits in the top five. Kevin Smith's comedy
Zack and Miri Make a Porno grossed
$6.3M, down just 38%, for a $20.7M tally in ten days. Look for The Weinstein
Co. to finish with $35-40M.

Opening with weak results in sixth place was the road comedy Soul
Men starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac which
collected $5.4M. Averaging a mild $2,643 in 2,044 theaters, the R-rated
MGM release attracted negative reviews with many critics expressing their
disappointment over how this project would be one of the last fans would
see the award-winning Mac in.

The horror tale Saw V tumbled 58%
to $4.1M boosting the cume to $52.2M while rival fright flick The
Haunting of Molly Hartley dipped just 39% to $3.3M for a ten-day
sum of $10.1M. Final grosses should reach about $58M for Lionsgate and
$18M for Freestyle, respectively.

Another good hold greeted The Secret Life of
Bees which dipped 23% to $3.1M for a $29.9M tally for Fox Searchlight.
The Queen Latifah pic could end up near $40M. Also enjoying good legs this
fall, the actioner Eagle Eye took in
$2.5M, off 27%, and a $96.3M total. The century club is in the Paramount
release's future and a final of around $105M could result.

Overseas, the new James Bond actioner Quantum
of Solace saw spectacular results from its major global roll-out
into 57 new territories grossing an estimated $106.5M from 9,870 screens
in 60 total markets. That boosted the total international gross to a staggering
$160.3M in only ten days with every territory opening bigger than Casino
Royale from two years ago. Quantum
attacks the North American market on Friday and rival studios have all
laid down their weapons as no other wide release will open against it.
A debut well ahead of Royale's $40.8M
is expected.

The top ten films grossed $123.4M which was up 31% from last year when
Bee Movie climbed into the top spot
in its second weekend with $25.6M; and up 17% from 2006 when Borat
expanded in its sophomore frame and remained at number one with
$28.3M.

This column is updated three times each week:
Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of
the author.